The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration has published a call for evidence on the use of e-passport gates at borders.
David Bolt said this is part of an inspection of the gates’ performance which is still at the scoping stage.
Among the issues up for review are the gates’ ease of use, their robustness in detecting attempts to circumvent passport controls, measures taken by Border Force to identify and protect vulnerable travellers using them, and the impact of extensions in recent years.
The gates, which have become a fixture at UK airports and other border points in recent years, use facial biometrics to check the holder against the face on the passport.
They came into operation for UK nationals in 2008 and are available to travellers from a group of other countries.
“My inspection will look at how well the e-passport gates are working and where improvements are necessary,” Bolt said.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
